Madlanga commission tells ex-Hawks boss Lebeya it can’t help in legal funding dispute

Retired Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga has told Godfrey Lebeya, the former national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), commonly known as the Hawks, that there is little the commission of inquiry can do after his request for state-funded legal representation was rejected.

Ex-Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya appears at Madlanga commission Before Lebeya began his testimony, his legal representative, Eric Nwedo, told the commission that his client was appearing at his own expense after his request for legal funding was declined by the South African Police Service (Saps).“What is evident with the communication that has come through chairperson and commissioners is basically that the decision maker in that particular application happens to be one General Mosikili, who used to work under him when he was still the head of the DPCI or the Hawks as we know it and is one person that he had tasked to investigate the issues relating to one of the streams that my learned colleague is going to traverse, the Port Shepstone [drug theft] matter,” Nwedo told the commission.